Korean backpacker fell, 'knocked herself out' and survived a week in a ravine

A Korean tourist who has been rescued after a week missing in far north Queensland says she fell during a mountain walk while taking photos, and was knocked out for hours before she became stuck without any food at a waterfall in a ravine.

Joohee Han, 25, was found by soldiers and police officers at Mount Tyson in Tully, south of Cairns, just after midday on Thursday on a rocky waterfall in a narrow ravine.

Ms Han was climbing Mount Tyson near Tully last Friday, when she slipped while taking photos at the Scout Rock lookout.

She lost her front tooth in the fall and was unconscious for about five hours.

The backpacker then crawled through the bush, ending up stranded at a rocky waterfall.

Queensland Ambulance flight paramedic Hannah Gaulke said the tourist managed to find running water, which was flowing from the rockface.

"In the entire time she was missing she'd had no food with her at all," Ms Gaulke said.

"She had hiked up to the summit and had taken a few photos and she said that she had fallen from one of the main outlook areas known as Scout Rock, and from there she knocked herself out and believed she'd been unconscious for five or more hours.

"When she came to, she was quite disoriented and unable to get her bearings and from then she managed to crawl and scrape her way through the bushland which was really tough terrain and eventually ended up on this slippery, rocky waterfall.

"She got to a point where she couldn't actually proceed any further and she had no way to get back out and that's where she stayed for days.

"Her chances of survival were near zero."

Ms Gaulke said emergency crews were not able to reach her from the ground due to the difficult terrain, and passed food down to her before she was winched to safety.

"From the helicopter, our rescue crew officers performed a winch down to her to secure her — it was about a 60-foot winch and they've brought her up to the helicopter where I've taken over care of her and done an assessment," she said.

Ms Han remains in a stable condition in Tully Hospital, having been treated for minor scratches and dehydration.

"Despite that, she was actually in really good condition, so she had no significant injuries — a number of abrasions and a few minor injuries — but otherwise she was in good spirits," Ms Gaulke said.